David Vang

Friday is the second-busiest shopping day of the year. Jenna Roering’s birthday isn’t until Dec. 30, but she’s picking out her birthday gift with her mom early at Rosedale Center in Roseville. “My mom said there’s a lot of sales the day after Christmas, so we came here today,” Roering said.

When it comes to holiday shopping, last-minute free shipping can be a saving grace for the procrastinator. “With shopping, I do put things off,” said Maggie McGill of Plymouth. Burned by missed Christmas deliveries last year, more stores plan to make you order early. Of the 92.3 percent of retailers polled who plan to offer free-standard shipping of some sort this holiday season.

Starting next year, Social Security benefits will rise 1.7 percent — or about $20 a month based on an average monthly Social Security payment of $1,192. That increase, or cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), has been pegged to the consumer price index (CPI) since 1975. It’s one of several ways to measure inflation. So, how do we measure the CPI?

Target Corp. is in the crosshairs of a fight over gun rights. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is trying to pressure the Minneapolis-based retailer into prohibiting customers from carrying guns in its stores. It’s an attempt to counter gun owners in some states who’ve been shopping and dining with rifles slung over their shoulders to asset their rights to openly carry firearms in public.

A former worker at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was sentenced Thursday to two years and two months in prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing shotguns, revolvers and other weapons from the checked luggage of passengers who had connecting flights through the busy Twin Cities airport.

A worker at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has been charged with stealing shotguns, revolvers and other weapons from the checked luggage of passengers who had connections through the busy Twin Cities airport.